Cooking up a storm

A couple of years ago, I followed a gluten free diet for about six months as a way of trying to alleviate the symptoms of colitis. One very good thing which came out of that time was discovering this amazing recipe for lemon polenta cake, which I found in a magazine. I put a photo of it on Instagram recently and a couple of people asked for the recipe, so here it is. It is a very easy cake to make, and it also looks beautiful. It is great served with fresh cream.

250 g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
3 medium eggs, beaten
250g ground almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
grated zest 2 lemons
juice 1 lemon
125g polenta, sifted
1 level teaspoon baking powder (gluten free if you are following a diet)
For the syrup:
4 tablespoons lemon juice
125g icing sugar
200g soft fruits e.g raspberries and blueberries
Icing sugar to dust

23cm/9 inch tin, lined with parchment
Set oven to Gas mark 3, or 160 degrees
Beat the butter until soft and pale. Add the sugar, beat until light and creamy. Whisk in the eggs a little at a time, making sure you beat the egg well. Fold in the almonds, vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice, polenta and baking powder. Put into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 50 mins to one hour. 
To make the syrup, place the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons water, and icing sugar into a pan and stir until the icing sugar has dissolved. Spoon over the cake while the syrup and the cake are still hot. Leave in the tin to cool. When the cake is cold, arrange berries on top and dust with icing sugar.

I'll be serving the cake to my Mum later today, along with some home made scones, clotted cream and raspberry jam. 

Have a lovely Sunday. 
PS I should clarify that I didn't paint that beautiful watercolour above. It's a photograph of mine which I changed using the Waterlogue App on my iPhone to give a painterly effect. I wish I was that good at watercolour :)